Posts: 4662
Joined: 6/10/2005 From: A breaking rope bridge in the middle of the jungle

Nah.

I should like it, cos itís sparse, nihilistic and it has the basic man-versus-nature vibe Iím quite fond of (cf. my love of Malick and Herzog). ButÖI donít know, I just donít connect with it on any level and it bores me to tears. I first saw it years ago on TV (no doubt either BBC2 or channel 4) and I remembered not being overly keen then, but I decided to watch it again last year, wondering if I had been a bit unfair to it (cos I didnít really remember too much about it). But I think I liked it even less this time round.

My Australian film odyssey begins with a film that shows the very negative aspects of the small-town in the outback culture. Ted Kotcheff's slow-burning and nightmarish film uses the out-back and small towns as it's desolate canvas, as we watch school-teacher John Grant (Gary Bond) slowly but surely descend to rock-bottom. On his way back to Sydney from his remote teaching job in Tiboonda, he stops into Bundanyabba, a slightly less remote location, but still rooted in the outback mentality. He encounters Jock (Chips Rafferty) a local police officer, at a local pub where Jock feeds him numerous beers and introduces him to the local gambling scene. John, who is more then a little disgruntled by the fact he's entered an agreement with the government, which forced him into a financial bond and his subsequent posting in Tiboonda, decides he's going to buy his way out of his self described slavery, by gambling. After a brief winning streak, he loses everything, including the money he needed to fly back to Sydney. "Luckily", the locals around the "Yabba" (including Donald Pleasence, Jack Thompson, Sylvia Kay and more) are more then happy to help him out with lodging and food, as long as he also participates in their lifestyles of rampant alcoholism, misogyny and kangaroo hunting. To say that Wake In Fright attacks the "bogan" mentality and small-town mindset of country Australia is an understatement. It savagely attacks it, not unlike the dog in the roo hunting scenes. The film shows casual alcoholism, hunting and more as bleak realities and negative aspects of the outback. The fact the film balances those themes and depicts a man's spiralling descent into madness so deftly, really shows why it is seen as a major work in Australian film history. It's a horror film without serial killers, or grotesque monsters. It's a horror film where the evil is casual human nature and how a reasonably innocent human being can be caught up in it's web. Truly distressing stuff.

Note: And yes, the kangaroo hunting scenes are incredibly upsetting. If animal cruelty or harm is something that you can't tolerate, even on film, you'd be best not to watch Wake In Fright.

Great review. I've had this sitting around for ages unwatched. I might actually get off my lazy arse and watch it tonight.

_____________________________

Exactly six miles north of Skagg Mountain in the Valley of Pain, there lives an evil devilmonster. His name is Bingo Gas Station Motel Cheeseburger With A Side Of Aircraft Noise And You'll Be Gary Indiana.

My Australian film odyssey begins with a film that shows the very negative aspects of the small-town in the outback culture. Ted Kotcheff's slow-burning and nightmarish film uses the out-back and small towns as it's desolate canvas, as we watch school-teacher John Grant (Gary Bond) slowly but surely descend to rock-bottom. On his way back to Sydney from his remote teaching job in Tiboonda, he stops into Bundanyabba, a slightly less remote location, but still rooted in the outback mentality. He encounters Jock (Chips Rafferty) a local police officer, at a local pub where Jock feeds him numerous beers and introduces him to the local gambling scene. John, who is more then a little disgruntled by the fact he's entered an agreement with the government, which forced him into a financial bond and his subsequent posting in Tiboonda, decides he's going to buy his way out of his self described slavery, by gambling. After a brief winning streak, he loses everything, including the money he needed to fly back to Sydney. "Luckily", the locals around the "Yabba" (including Donald Pleasence, Jack Thompson, Sylvia Kay and more) are more then happy to help him out with lodging and food, as long as he also participates in their lifestyles of rampant alcoholism, misogyny and kangaroo hunting. To say that Wake In Fright attacks the "bogan" mentality and small-town mindset of country Australia is an understatement. It savagely attacks it, not unlike the dog in the roo hunting scenes. The film shows casual alcoholism, hunting and more as bleak realities and negative aspects of the outback. The fact the film balances those themes and depicts a man's spiralling descent into madness so deftly, really shows why it is seen as a major work in Australian film history. It's a horror film without serial killers, or grotesque monsters. It's a horror film where the evil is casual human nature and how a reasonably innocent human being can be caught up in it's web. Truly distressing stuff.

Note: And yes, the kangaroo hunting scenes are incredibly upsetting. If animal cruelty or harm is something that you can't tolerate, even on film, you'd be best not to watch Wake In Fright.

Posts: 4662
Joined: 6/10/2005 From: A breaking rope bridge in the middle of the jungle

Nice review, especially interesting from an Aussie perspective.

Check out my English perspective, if you want - click on FAVE FILMS in my sig and go to page 9, it's after Hot Rod.

But yeah - only a handful of films in my 25-odd year career in hardcore film buffery have knocked me right off my feet, and Wake in Fright is right near the top. It's an amazing piece of film making by anyone's standards.

"A bohemian behemoth, post-midnight soiree" is such a fantastic line - it always reminds me of The Master and Margarita. It's a great animation, though I find the whole idea of the Cat Piano so unpleasant; I forgot to vote for it when we did the horror list.

Looking forward to the list, Brooksy - I haven't seen much of Aussie cinema, so any recommendations will be great. Wake in Fright is one I've meant to watch, but never got round to.

Check out my English perspective, if you want - click on FAVE FILMS in my sig and go to page 9, it's after Hot Rod.

But yeah - only a handful of films in my 25-odd year career in hardcore film buffery have knocked me right off my feet, and Wake in Fright is right near the top. It's an amazing piece of film making by anyone's standards.

The weird thing is, I also live in a particularly small country town so it was all a little uncomfortable. Luckily, I don't live in an arid wasteland, and the people around here aren't that bad

I shall do soon! Also, respect to having Hot Rod on a Fave Films list

It really is a brilliant film, I think a re-watch might even sweeten the deal for me.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MovieAddict247

quote:

ORIGINAL: rawlinson

"A bohemian behemoth, post-midnight soiree" is such a fantastic line - it always reminds me of The Master and Margarita. It's a great animation, though I find the whole idea of the Cat Piano so unpleasant; I forgot to vote for it when we did the horror list.

Looking forward to the list, Brooksy - I haven't seen much of Aussie cinema, so any recommendations will be great. Wake in Fright is one I've meant to watch, but never got round to.

Being a cat-lover it was very nasty but the animation was superb so I ignored the horribleness.

Well I guess our education will be running simultaneously because I'm also pretty inexperienced with Australian film For the record though, everyone should see Andrew Dominiks first film, Chopper. And Rawls badgered me about watching it and it was worth it trust me. If you get a chance and can stand the sight of kangaroos being shot, give it a try.

You could argue whether Walkabout deserves to be placed on an Aussie films list. It's director Nicholas Roeg is English, as is his son who plays the young boy, Jenny Agutter who plays the older sister is British as is Edward Bond who wrote the script. However, what Walkabout has in it's favour is the use of the Australian wilderness. Roeg uses exceptional locations to display the isolation of the British preppy siblings who are stranded in the middle of nowhere after their father goes off the deep end and attempts to kill them before torching his car and killing himself. The thing that really stood out to me was the fact he contrasted the arid dry areas, with the picturesque Sydney shots (which is quite beautiful even if I hate the city itself a bit) and even non-sun parched areas. I've never actually been to where they filmed (Alice Springs which is close enough to the direct centre of our nation) but it's implied they're in South Australia which is a lovely lovely place mixed with the verdant green areas of my home state Victoria and the dry areas of the west. The locations and wonderful cinematography and music in Walkabout is really excellent. It certainly alleviated the negative aspects of the film. There were certain times that I lost a little interest I'll be honest. That can be explained in part to boredom (it's a very slow film) but also day-dreaming as well. Walkabout is a film of harsh reality and human contact through barriers of language and culture but it has a dream-like quality so losing yourself in the film is quite easy if you allow it. On another note, Jenny Agutter is really quite good in this film. Her un-named sister is head-strong and quietly determined but also fragile at the same time. David Gulpilil is also great as the young walkabout Aborigine who develops a bond with the two siblings as he tries to help them find their way back to civilisation. The bond between Gulpili and Agutter especially is a subject I won't touch on due to spoilers. Nicholas's young son Luc, is frankly annoying as all hell if I'm being truthful. There were times I struggled when he was on screen for a long amount of time but the films strengths kept me going. Walkabout isn't an easy watch, it's a distant, yet involving mood piece that does demand a little from the viewer, but if you give yourself to the film it's not incredibly hard to see why it's considered so essential in terms of importance to Australian film history.

One thing I love about early Roeg films is how strong the locations are and how important they are to the story, they really become another character, and the bush (not Jenny's) is no different here.

This is the first Roeg film I've ever seen but you've definitely got a point. It's interesting how both Wake in Fright and Walkabout's locations are so important to the films themselves. I felt the same about the Yabba, it's essentially another character in the film.

Posts: 4662
Joined: 6/10/2005 From: A breaking rope bridge in the middle of the jungle

I'm fond of Walkabout, but I completely get the uncertainty about Roeg - he seems to have become one of Britain's (if not the world's) greatest directors based on nothing more than four or five films, only two or three of which are very good ones.

I'm loathe to say Roeg has made a masterpiece - Don't Look Now, in my opinion, comes closest, but his other (very) good films (Performance, The Man Who Fell to Earth and Walkabout itself) suffer from the same detachment and occasional lapses in both acting and script quality.

I don't like Agutter and I've yet to see a Roeg film I like. Yeah, Walkabout isn't a favourite.

Why don't you like her? Annoying screen presence for you?

quote:

ORIGINAL: great_badir

I'm fond of Walkabout, but I completely get the uncertainty about Roeg - he seems to have become one of Britain's (if not the world's) greatest directors based on nothing more than four or five films, only two or three of which are very good ones.

I'm loathe to say Roeg has made a masterpiece - Don't Look Now, in my opinion, comes closest, but his other (very) good films (Performance, The Man Who Fell to Earth and Walkabout itself) suffer from the same detachment and occasional lapses in both acting and script quality.

And as for just about everything he made from the mid 80s onwards

Yeah I'm not particularly all that interested in watching many of his films to be honest. Don't Look Now does sound interesting though so I'll probably end up watching that.